Congressman John Linder’s recent announcement that he plans to retire after this term brought out a series of comments about his pet project, the so-called Fair Tax.

During my time as editor and publisher of the Journal, Madison County was in his district. On several occasions, he visited the Journal office in Danielsville and engaged us in conversations about his opinions and ideas. Even then, he was interested in the fair tax proposal.

The Fair Tax would have eliminated all payroll, capital gains and estate taxes in favor of a national sales tax. It would also have eliminated, or greatly reduced, the Internal Revenue Service. While the tax would have caused a considerable increase in the price of goods, it would have also increased the take home pay of workers and simplified life for buyers and sellers throughout the nation.

One of the complaints about the plan is that the tax would have to be very high to cover the cost of government, and that is correct. Another argument was that the tax would be figured into the price of goods, and people would not know how much tax they were paying. Nothing on their payroll slip would reveal the tax burden to them, and that is also correct.

But there are some clear advantages to the idea. For example, if you purchase American made goods, a major part of the price is created by payroll taxes on each person involved from the miners who dug the ore, to the foundry workers, to the factories that made the stuff, to the truck drivers who delivered it and finally the clerks who sold it to you. Whereas, imported goods only paid taxes for the last two people. Imported goods pay far fewer taxes than do domestic ones.

The Fair Tax would collect an equal amount of taxes on all goods, domestic or imported. That would reduce the advantage of imports and give American-made goods an even break. By keeping more manufacturing jobs in America, our unemployment figures would improve dramatically. People would have more money to spend generating revenue to support the government. Fewer people would be on welfare reducing the cost of government.

By cutting out the amount of record keeping, more people would be able to open and operate family businesses. Couple that with a dramatic reduction in rules and regulations and we could dramatically reduce the impact of government on them and giving them more control over their own lives.

To me, the Fair Tax idea has merit and ought to be given full consideration. It may be a good idea, or it may not work. But until Congress gives it a fair hearing, we will never know.

Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County Journal. His e-mail address is frank@frankgillispie.com. His website can be accessed at http://www.frankgillispie.com/gillispieonline.

NO NO NO John Linder is a new world order scumbag He is not a conservitive. The so called fair tax (their is no such thing as a "fair" tax.) is a pathway to a national ID card you will have to swipe any time you buy sell or trade. Dont get me wrong I am not taking up for the current tax system either. We need to quit spending so much thats the main problem, well that and the fedral reserve system. Neither of which the fair tax adresses. Linder told me personally that he wasnt real sure what the federal reserve was or what it does. LIAR. also check out real ID he is a big supporter of that.

Everybody pays except those who prefer to avoid the tax by buying from overseas. The internet makes it real easy to purchase worldwide and the sales tax would drive a huge market out of this country. This would not support our domestic economy and, indeed, would cause alot of disruption.

Our income tax pays off the interest rate of the loan the United States gets from the Federal Reserve Bank each year. That's it. It doesn't go for roads or schools or police or anything else, just pays the interest rate. Now, the fair tax will not be good for the MANY people now having to work at lower paying jobs of $7-$9 hr. Maybe if food isn't taxed then it might work but...

We are going to get the value added tax or "fair tax" but they are also going to keep the current income tax. Your only choice is to stand on your feet and fight or live like a slave on your knees. Oh and by the way the republican scumbags are just as evil as the demonrats.

The fair tax is only fair to the wealthy. Any sales tax is a regressive tax, meaning that it will take a larger percentage from those who make less money. Everyone has to buy groceries, but groceries represent a larger percentage of expenses for low to middle income families than high income families. The current tax system is a progressive tax (those who make more money pay a higher percentage). Look at the tax brackets. Understand the system. Those who have pushed the fair tax system think that, by talking about getting rid of the "evil IRS", they will fool people into supporting a plan that is meant to lower taxes for the wealthy. Don't be fooled.

I'd very much like to chuck the income tax code entirely, but a "fair tax" isn't fair, for the reasons stated. Diminishing marginal utility is the economics term for this. This means that if you are very wealthy, you would never stoop down to pick up even a $100 bill on the sidewalk. A poor person would do so to retrieve a quarter, even a penny. What denomination would any of you neglect to pick up; what would it take to make you take action? Where is your 'line'? Money has vastly different values to different people given their economic status. Taxation should reflect this.

Fair Tax is, however, more fair than pulling a number out of your rear and assigning that number to be the value of one's property, and then charging taxes based on a completely imaginary, arbitrary GUESS.

Bring on the Fair Tax! NO ONE claims it is THE Fair Tax; we only claim it is MORE FAIR than the crazy property tax crap game we're all getting conned with now!

The author here does not bring the prebate into discussion. The big thing that makes the FairTax actually fair is the prebate. NO legal citizen of the country will end up paying taxes on what HHS considers the "poverty level" of spending - in other words, the amount needed for adequate food, shelter, clothing, utilities, and transportation. In 2009, a family of 4 (2 parents, 2 kids) would have been tax-free on $29,100 in spending. They would have received prebates in the amount of approximately $558 a month. This money would have virtually exempted them from any taxes up to $29,100 in spending. Anything over that, they would have paid 23% in taxes.

So, if you consider the average family makes about $40k these days, if they spent ALL of that money and didn't use any of it to save/invest/use on education, they would pay taxes on about $10,900 in spending. 23% of that is $2507. Taken as a percentage of total income ($40k), that represents a 6.3% tax rate.

Put that up against what the same family pays today - social security and medicare taxes alone come out to 7.65% of their total income - NONE of it is exempt - plus such families have to have money withheld every paycheck, making it hard to get ahead. When the embedded costs of taxes that are in products we buy are factored in, you can add another 22% on top of the SS/MC taxes - remember, this family is spending all $40k. If they are in the 10% tax bracket - well, it depends on deductions, but this family is paying at least $12,000 a year in taxes, for an overall tax rate of at least 30%.

There is much more to the FairTax to this, and as a person making $36k a year, I, my wife and two kids fully support it, because it would bring jobs back to the US, kick-start the economy, plus help people like me, who can better decide how to spend my money than the government can, to get ahead.

I totally agree with you and more people would, I think, if they just understood it more. It's "fair" because everyone gets to decide what taxes they want to pay by choosing what they want to buy; not being REQUIRED to pay a certain amount. Also, EVERYONE pays taxes, including the illigal immigrants in this country and EVERYONE that works for cash. It just makes sense. And most people who are in the lower income areas (with children) won't like it at all because they won't get that chunk of cash (that really doesn't belong to them anyways) at tax time. (I must add that I am one of those in that lower income area with children, but I happen to agree with the fair tax, and support it. Some do, but most won't. I just know how prople are.) I just wish more people understood how it would actually work. Personally, I think it would fix a hell of a lot of our country's financial problems. It would also put a check on reality for some people who like to live beyond their means.

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